Pikmin: Technological Advance
by PaintBrushJr
Summary: PNF-404 has become famous. Its vast treasures, beautiful scenery, and world-saving foods have caught the eye of many. But, when greed gets the better of someone, its up to our explorers to go and stop them before it is too late. And PNF-404 suffers a fate worse than death...
1. Our Story Begins

_**Pikmin: Technological Advance**_

 **Living Room, Hanafuda**

 _12 hours till Sunset_

 __"Welcome, everyone, to Koppai news! I'm your host, Romeo!"

"And I'm Sierra!"

Shown on flickering TVs everywhere, two Koppaites sit, at a white desk. Romeo, the host, has a flat brown top and simple mustache, with a matching brown suit, complete with red tie. Sierra, the other host, has grape-colored hair, and a green dress with white polka dots. She's wearing cat-eye glasses with rhinestones.

"Today, it's another edition of Heroes' News. Who have the viewers suggested, Sierra?"

Sierra holds a letter in her hands. She carefully opens it and reads.

"Congratulations Drake! You want to hear about your grandson and his friends, the crew who saved us from starvation. That was a tough time, wasn't it Romeo?"

"It sure was," he said, rubbing his stomach, "But thanks to those seeds, we're eating like kings!"

"Well then," said Sierra, "Let's pull up the footage!"

The screen flickers, and now, the TV shows Alph sitting on a couch. A younger kid with stubby blue hair is driving a toy spaceship across his lap.

Alph is wearing his spacesuit, without the helmet, and looks the same as he had when he went on the mission, albeit, a bit taller.

An orange haired woman is sitting across from him, with orange, shoulder-length hair.

"Hi, this is Foxy here. Today, we have Alph, one of the heroes of the mission to PNF-404! Now then, Alph, tell us, any thoughts?"

The little boy is making noises as he flies the rocket around.

"Well, Foxy, was it?" Alph asked.

"Yes."

"I thought the mission was really an eye opener. I think I learned some things, and have seen some odd sights. For example, you should've seen what we called the Sand-Belching Meerslug. The thing was huge! But, I don't feel too different."

A figure with a blurred face walks up. Captions appear on the screen.

"I'm sorry to interrupt. This little one right here needs to go to bed."

"No!" warbled the little boy.

The figure picked up the kid and walked off.

"Anyways, I wish Drake was able to see it, but the people who gave us the mission said that there were processing limitations with the KopPad, and he decided to drop out."

"Do you feel as though your grandfather deserved to be put through that horrible planet then?"

Alph stared at Foxy with wide-eyed shock for a few moments.

"N-no! The monsters weren't too bad, but the scenery! The scenery was absolutely stunning! I even took pictures on my KopPad!"

Alph pulls it out and shows Foxy. The camera switches to a bird's eye view of it, showing scenes from places like Twilight River and The Garden of Hope. Various Pikmin are pulling off various stances, including one where all of them, along with Charlie, are doing a kick-line.

"There are quite nice!"

The TV switches back to Romeo and Sierra.

"How funny!" states Sierra, "That captain must be so silly!"

"I don't think Alph is that silly…"

"I was talking about Charlie! He and his kick-line… Let's actually go to him right now."

The TV switches to Captain Charlie sitting in a wooden chair. On the opposite end of a plastic table is Foxy.

"Coming to you with Captain Charlie, the leader of this expedition. Now then Charlie, would you say that you were a good leader of this mission?"

"Definitely!" he said proudly, his fists planted into his sides.

"Despite being eaten almost immediately after crash-landing?"

"Wait, what?"

"Or not caring about the food, but your rubber ducky when Louie from Hocotate Freight stole it all?"

"B-but…"

"Or, perhaps, the time that you murdered innocent children of the being that ate you?"

"Shut… shut up! How did you get that information?"

The TV flickers to a greenhouse, filled with varieties of large fruits.

"And then, he squealed when his rubber ducky fell off of Louie's body and into the mud!"

She and Foxy share a laugh.

"So, anyways, how do you feel about your crew members?"

"Charlie is such an arrogant jerk, it can be hard to deal with him, but I know he watches out for us. Alphie's always a team player too, in fact, if it weren't for him, I would have probably starved in that enclosure."

"Interesting, but how did you feel about this adventure?"

"It was actually quite pretty. Despite the monsters that inhabited the place, it was actually quite calming. Once we mastered using them, the place was almost free, except for monsters that didn't hurt them. I'm going to miss the little guys. It would be nice to have a little cottage or something there…"

The TV turns off. A figure gets up and turns to his cohorts.

"Lili, Zelia, Garren, do you see the business opportunity here?"

Lili tugged at her green hair, braided down her hair, with blonde highlights.

"I know that you asked us to gather the history of the planet, and we did… But… Well… The place is dangerous. Extremely dangerous."

Garren snarled, his short brown hair stuck up in a stub, modeled after Alph's, "Plus, if we go there and build a little cottage, it may turn into a place that we just clear out. Like what happened to here, Hanafuda."

"As much as I like adventure," said Zelia, her pink and purple hair bobbing up and down like a wave. "This place is not a place to mess with. Yenom, you must reconsider-"

"I'm not reconsidering," said Yenom. He stepped into the light.

He looked at the dress Lili was wearing, the brown skin of Garren and his gray suit, and Zelia's spacesuit, which she refused to take off.

He inspected his hair. Three large black hairs pointed straight up on his head. He checked his mustache. Perfectly curved into five round bumps. His suit was the perfect shade of gray that he had selected. He straightened his black tie, adjusted his handkerchief, and slowly polished his boots.

"Perfect… Now then, I have been thinking of this ever since you came back. This has sprung our opportunity. Many people have watched this news broadcast. Tomorrow, we shall advertise it. A new lodging place on PNF-404. We'll make millions!"

"But sir!" said Garren, "What about the monsters? Sure, we can breathe the oxygen on the planet, but those monsters are fierce creatures, and I doubt-"

"Garren! Have faith!" said Yenom, exasperated, "We can deal with these issues. Tell Mary and Sue that they have to start making the commercial… now."

Garren glared at Yenom for a bit, then walked off.

"Lili, Zelia, prepare your spaceship."

"ADVENTURE?!" said Zelia gleefully.

"Adventure?" moaned Lili.

"Yes," said Yenom, "Now go."

Zelia ran off, Lili stomping behind her.

Yenom turned around and stared at the TV screen. He turned it on, and hit the play button.

"Of course," continued Brittany, "I wouldn't want to do that. It may harm the Pikmin, unless they decided to agree with it. Plus, if we built a cottage, everyone else would want to go to it, and it may just create a giant cash cow for someone."

Yenom touched an earpiece on his ear, "Is Garren still there?"

"Umm… no, why?" replied the voice of Mary.

"I've changed my mind about the commercial. Also, you and Sue are fired."

"Wait, what?"

"You may take them now," said Yenom calmly.

"What are you talking- AGH!" muffled screams erupted into Yenom's earpiece, with a crashing noise banging in the background. Yenom turned off the earpiece, and Garren entered the room.

"They're working on it," he replied gruffly.

"Good," said Yenom, and he took out a little antennae, tossing it to Garren.

"You're going to PNF-404 once again. I want you to place that on the planet's surface. I have programmed it to build a cottage."

Garren stared at the antennae, then looked at Yenom, "You do realize this is a bad idea, right?"

"I feel as though that there is nothing wrong with this," replied Yenom.

Garren glared at him one last time, and walked off.

Yenom stared at the TV again, then picked up a teapot, poured himself a cup, and walked away.

 **Awakening Woods**

 _2 hours to sunset_

The ship made its final descent. Zelia flicked several switches, and Lili checked the radar.

"Status?" Garren asked.

"All good!" saluted Zelia.

"We're OK… I guess," replied Lili.

"Good," said Garren. They slowly stopped near the ground, and landed on a patch of circular land.

The three put on their spacesuits. Lili put on a yellow one, Zelia, a purple one, Garren, an orange one.

"OK then," said Zelia, "Let's find a good place to put this cottage!"

The three set out into the woods. Garren made sure to carefully inspect the ground and flowers. With the Sheargrubs and Burrowing Snagrets, you could never be too sure. In fact, Garren swore that a Marigold was eyeing him hungrily. He thought back to the Jungle Incident. The group had sworn never to talk about it, and anything possibly relating to it. So, Garren kept his mouth shut.

The group walked slowly, and into a clearing. The place had been cleared up from weathering elements, and it didn't appear to match the description the discoverer of this planet, Olimar, had given it.

A Dwarf Bulborb charged out, shrieking, and Lili, shocked, socked it in the face. It was hit so hard, the Dwarf Bulborb literally crumpled into the ground, almost deflated.

"Good job Lili," said Garren, used to this sort of behavior.

"You did excellent!" said Zelia, giving a thumbs up.

The group walked to a nice clearing, with a waterfall. Olimar had clearly forgotten to mention waterfalls in the woods. Spectralids floated around, all of them giving clear space. They clearly recognized the three explorers, and gave them a wide berth.

"This looks like a good place," said Garren, and he kneeled on the ground, antennae in hand.

Just as he was about to place it, cries erupted from the waterfall, and some Pikmin rushed out.

There were Red Pikmin carrying some sort of gray Pikmin, and Blue Pikmin shaking off the water droplets, so they didn't drown.

Zelia, Lili and Garren all stopped placing the antennae and whistled. Water droplets were shaken off, and the Pikmin all rushed over. The gray Pikmin was dropped into the water, and some Blue Pikmin grabbed it and carried it over.

Garren attempted to whistle to it, but it refused to respond.

Lili kneeled over it, and gasped.

"What happened to it?"

The gray Pikmin wasn't gray at all, but metal. Bolts lined its plating, and instead of a leaf, there was a small antennae, light slowly blinking around it.

The Pikmin's eyes were barely open, but were a deep metallic red, with no pupils, similar to a White Pikmin's, if they were wearing goggles.

Around its bodies were drops of water, sparking against the Pikmin's "skin."

Lili immediately took off her glove, and began to dry the Pikmin with it.

Luckily, the people of Hanafuda were able to breathe in a small amount of oxygen, otherwise Lili would've been dead.

The Pikmin stopped sparking, and slowly got up. It blinked its robotic eyes at Lili.

"What is this?" Lili asked, "Who would do this."

Lili reached out her hand, and the Pikmin cuddled it. It felt cold.

Then, a sharp noise filled the air, like an alarm going off. The metal Pikmin stood upright, its eyes turning into a dull yellow. It walked away from them in a drone-like manner.

"…Follow it," said Garren.

….

 _1 hour till sunset_

The group slowly stalked the Metal Pikmin, following it through long halls of rock, and clearings of dewy grass.

Some creatures were walking around, but nothing appeared to be dangerous. Some female Sheargrubs followed the group for a bit, and even helped them nuzzle through a hole the Metal Pikmin walked through.

The group finally crawled through the hole, and the female Sheargrubs crawled back through it. The group didn't notice, because they were in a state of shock.

Towering above them was a large antennae. Hanafudans were building it.

The group of explorers immediately ducked behind a rock, with Garren grabbing the Metal Pikmin. He pulled off his glove and managed to tie it around the Metal Pikmin's antennae. The Pikmin's eyes transferred back to a metallic red, and it stared at Garren, registered the situation, and ducked.

Metal Pikmin were walking out of many holes in the clearing, all of them with dull yellow eyes. They were carrying other Pikmin.

They were clearly struggling. Yellow Pikmin were zapping the drones. Blue Pikmin squirted water. Red Pikmin were simply beating them. One dented Metal Pikmin was carrying what appeared to be a rock.

The alarm was still blaring, and all of the Pikmin were converging on a single spot in a clearing. Sitting there was an object that looked like a wood chipper. Standing there was a familiar face.

Yenom Gabs decided to grace PNF-404 with his presence.

The Metal Pikmin all got in a line in front of the wood chipper object. Yenom nodded towards a Hanafudan, and he nodded. A switch was flipped, and the alarm changed tone. The Metal Pikmin walked up, and one by one, threw a Pikmin in it.

Zelia covered Lili's mouth to stifle her scream.

Little Pikmin souls slowly floated out of a slot in the machine, and was caught in a glass dome. The wood chipper sputtered, and a Metal Pikmin fell out, all of them the same size, despite what they looked like originally. The glass orb emptied itself into the Pikmin, and a Soul floated into it. The Metal Pikmin's eyes opened, and stared at its hands, before being caught in a bug net and transported off.

Garren felt a drop of liquid on the hand that wasn't gloved. He looked at the Metal Pikmin, who was crying oil.

"This is horrible…" muttered Zelia, a look of disgust and determination on her face. Garren understood what she was about to do.

"If that alarm controls Metal Pikmin," muttered Lili, "Do you think..."

"If we could distract the Metal Pikmin…" muttered Garren.

"Then we grab that Rock Pikmin…" muttered Zelia.

The three nodded, and Lili ran out of their cover, and slid onto the ground, foot outwards, and knocked a Hanafudan down.

Yenom saw her, and immediately snapped his fingers. Another Hanafudan flipped a switch on the antennae.

The Metal Pikmin all faced towards the explorers, when Garren whistled. Caught off guard, the Metal Pikmin were beaten down by their captured buddies.

Garren whistled a Rock Pikmin over to him and threw it to Zelia, already in midair. She aimed, and fired.

The Hanafudan ducked for cover as the Rock Pikmin slammed into the switch, completely destroying it.

The many Metal Pikmin all turned towards Yenom, glaring at him with red eyes.

Yenom appeared calm. Then one charged.

He easily grabbed it and chucked it away, before blowing a whistle. The entire clearing covered their ears, except for the Metal Pikmin. They all turned towards the explorers.

Garren was hit with shame. They had failed!

Yenom slowly walked towards the group, "What are you doing?"

"This is wrong!" shouted Zelia into his face, "What do you think you are doing?"

"Business," Yenom replied simply.

"But this is-"

"I. Don't. Care," said Yenom coolly.

He silently picked up a Metal Pikmin.

"Rufus, grab them."

A large Hanafudan grabbed the three of them. Yenom walked up.

"I'm afraid that you're fired," he stated and smacked them with the Pikmin.

Garren's conscious slowly faded.


	2. Day 1 Part 1

_**Pikmin: Technological Advance**_

 **Chapter 1:**

 **Hocotate Freight**

 _12 hours to Sunset_

"So, you are?"

"Pelly…"

"Pelly, no last name given?"

"Pelly, no last name given."

"I see…" The President of Hocotate Freight got up from his desk, and looked at a piece of paper on a clipboard.

"So, you have experience in other businesses?"

"Correct, Yenom Gabs Incorporated, Company and Website… I was both their main handler of goods, and their main planner."

"And those… gloves?"

"You can look at them yourself, but I've checked them constantly to make sure they work…"

"I see... I see… I would like to see them though…"

The President took two gloves. The right glove had a small blue circle on the pointer finger, and the left glove had a blue disk in the center of the back of the hand.

"I'll have these looked at it then…"

"Very well," said Pelly, "Mind if I freshen up while you do that?"

"I don't mind…" said the President, and Pelly left and entered a bathroom. She washed her face a bit and looked at the mirror.

She had pink hair falling downward, and some eyelashes on her eyes. She rubbed her bulbous nose, and made sure that there weren't any scratches on her head, shaped similar to Olimar's.

She swiped her hand up, and began writing in the air with her finger, "Status Report: Everything's-"

She stopped herself. She didn't have her gloves on.

She walked outside, took a gulp of water from a bottle, and walked back into the front office.

The President sat there, waiting for her.

"Well, I've had these gloves inspected. You may use them for work."

"Does that mean I'm hired?" asked Pelly.

"Indeed!" said her new boss.

He gave her a slap on the back, "Now then, how about I bring you to your new supervisor.

….

"So, Louie, remember what I've told you," said Olimar.

He opened his eyes. Louie was sitting on the ground, eating a bug.

"Louie?"

"Food…" he mumbled.

A bit of bug juice dribbled out of his lip. Olimar turned away to avoid throwing up.

"Louie, we will not be eating this shipment of golden Pikpik carrots, OK?"

Olimar turned around to see Louie having picked up another bug, and wondering whether he should eat it.

"…I've lost all faith in you," mumbled Olimar, and he sighed.

Ever since Olimar and The President had rescued Louie from PNF-404, he had seemed… different… He seemed to be getting into more trouble, and seemed almost… mute. He would sometimes just sit on the ground and eat bugs, or mumble about food. When nobody was looking, he seemed to become almost hyperactive, doing many odd things. According to a group of Koppaites who were also exploring the planet, Louie had requested help, gotten saved, then proceeded to steal all of their food and obliterate an unbreakable wall.

When he was saved, he just began jumping around, begging for food, driving Olimar to near-insanity on the way back.

"Louie, please, just load the spaceship…"

He turned back. The entire shipment of Pikpik carrots were charred on the ground, with various bugs attempting to build an idol of Louie out of them.

"…I'm not even going to ask…"

"Food…"

Olimar began to load the actual shipment of carrots, having hid them due to Louie's odd behavior. After making sure all 300 carrots were safely stored, Olimar turned to Louie, who was currently wearing a crown of charred vegetables, as the bugs began attempting to build him a throne out of dirt.

"You never cease to amaze me…"

Louie simply stared at him.

Just as Olimar was preparing to fire up the engines, The President of Hocotate Freight began strolling up, a female trailing behind him.

"Hello boys," he stated, "How are you?"

"Pretty good," replied Olimar.

"Hungry…" said Louie.

Both Olimar and The President raised an eyebrow. Louie had rarely spoken any words since they had rescued Louie, and had both honestly thought that his entire vocabulary consisted of "Food" and "Louie."

How he had managed to ask for help from the Koppaites was a mystery.

"Umm, anyways, I have some exciting news! This is… Pelly?"

The female that had followed The President was currently inspecting the shipment. She put on two black gloves, and swiped her left hand. A blue screen projected out of the back of it. She began writing with the pointer finger on her right hand.

"So, you have to deliver these 300 Pikpik carrots right? Well then, taking into account the fact that you are bringing someone who is, and I quote, "hungry," and the fact that ravenous space bunnies are roaming space, you might want to have more protection."

"…Anyways-you're-her-new-supervisor-bye!"

The President rushed off, Olimar pretty much choking on the words he wanted to say.

"Uh… umm…"

Pelly walked over to him, and held out a gloved hand.

"Nice to meet you," she said.

Olimar reached out to grab it, but Pelly pulled it back.

"Don't actually shake my hand. These gloves are both expensive and valuable, and I don't want them to be touched any more than their intended use. It was painful when The President had to inspect them."

"Umm…"

"Anyways, I'm the new employee here. I'm hoping my new ideas will bring a lot more to the table, especially considering the fact that I have worked in a company that had dealings with shipping."

"Excuse-"

"But honestly, I think I'll like it better here. It feels a lot more "Hands on," than just leaving machines to calculate everything. If we were made to use machines for everything, then why didn't we have machines the first place?"

"Right, but-"

"I know! The right way is to nip this problem in the butt! It's OK to use machines as long as you put the work into it! That is how we grew into this society! And that is how we shall grow!"

"Umm…"

"What?" asked Pelly, turning to face him.

"We're just delivering carrots…"

"…Oh… I'm sorry…" she said, and began to scratch her neck.

"It's OK. I don't think we have enough room though…"

The ship beeped, "Indeed, we don't. We may have to leave someone behind…"

Olimar and Pelly looked at Louie, who was currently eating the bugs, as they ran around, screaming odd noises that Olimar could only interpret as them saying their god had betrayed them.

"I have an idea…" said Pelly, "But I doubt it's one we would use."

….

"Oxygen levels at 80%," beeped Louie's life support system as he zoomed through space. He wiggled in the rope binding him to the outside of the S.S. Dolphin.

"Be careful Louie!" shouted Pelly, safely snug inside one of the seats.

"He can't really hear you," said Olimar, using a microphone to talk to Pelly.

"I know," Pelly replied, "But it's nice to joke once in a while."

The group flew through space, with Pelly checking their progress with her holographic screen.

"Almost there," she said, "We'll just have to watch out for a meteor field."

Olimar blanched. He had experience with meteors, and they were never good.

"Can we go around them?" he asked.

"Of course. It's a small delay, but not too bad."

Olimar flew around the meteor field, being careful to stay a good distance away from them. Finally, he made his way around, and gave a breath of relief.

"You've had experience with meteors, right?" asked Pelly.

"I have," Olimar answered, "But it allowed me to get my company out of debt, so I have mixed feelings about it."

"Hmm, I never thought about it that way…"

The group sat in silence, listening to the blasts of the rockets, and Louie occasionally attempting to escape his bonds, when suddenly…

"Isn't that PNF-404?" Pelly asked.

She pointed at a small blue planet, with green spots dotting it.

"That was the name given to it, yes."

"It looks odd…"

"It would if you were living in Hocotate. It's very… green…"

"Not really," said Pelly, "I would say it's more blue than green."

"Agreed…" said Olimar.

The group began flying through space, occasionally spinning the rocket around. Louie had stopped trying to escape, and was attempting to eat some space dust.

"Olimar, what happened there?" asked Pelly.

"I was stranded on it two times, and came there willingly one time. But, luckily, these creatures known as Pikmin helped me. Their diverse talents and undying loyalty. Some sacrificed their lives for me, and for that, I am eternally grateful."

"Not that," said Pelly, "Although that is heartwarming,"

Olimar was shocked at how she just seemed to blow off his deep memories,

"But I don't remember anything in the reports saying that PNF-404 had a grey side."

"A grey side?" Olimar looked downwards. PNF-404 was slowly turning, and the normally green spots had a grey tinge. The ocean appeared to be slowly turning black.

"Well, the planet does change quickly. I suppose it makes sense. Perhaps I'll explore it one day…"

Little did he know that his wish was about to be granted…

 **?**

 _1 hour to Sunset_

All he could see was darkness. Nothing else. What was he doing last? He couldn't remember. There was a… robot? A waterfall…

Garren opened his eyes. He was bound by ropes. Two other objects were shuffling behind him.

"Where are we?" asked Lili. He realized that they were all tied together.

"This isn't adventure at all!" said Zelia.

"Be quite…" whispered Garren.

The two went silent.

"Now feign unconsciousness…" whispered Garren.

They all slumped down.

There were footsteps, and Garren nearly shook when a few rock pebbles fell on him.

"Hmm… they still seem unconscious…" said the voice of a Hanafudan.

"I searched them. They had no means of communicating besides their mics…" commented another Hanafudan.

"So why is a spaceship flying above us?" said the first one.

"…You told the master, right?"

"Correct."

There were a few moments of silence, then some ringing. The sound of a Hana-pad blinking on shattered the eerie quiet of the room.

"Hello..? Yes sir."

The Hana-pad shut off.

"Fire the laser."

"We have a laser?"

"Are you kidding me? I should make sure you're charged up next time!"

"Y-yes sir…"

"Anyways, fire the laser…"

 **Space, Hocotate Rocket**

 _1 hour to Sunset_

Louie was really itching. The rope that had bound him to the rocket was made of the scratchiest leather imaginable. It was bristling, and when Louie moved to scratch, the rope scratched other parts of his body, making him itch in those places too. It was like scratching yourself in poison ivy.

Just when Louie was about to pass out from exhaustion from scratching, he looked down at PNF-404, a planet he was currently facing from the bottom of the ship. The grey parts were odd, but Louie was thinking of something else. It reminded him of dark meat… surrounded by its grease. The blue plate, with a side of vegetables… It sounded delicious.

Actually, it could be a chocolate sundae, with cotton candy ice-cream below it, and some gummy bears. Yes, and that cherry on top… Scrumptious…

Wait, a cherry on top?

A small red dot was bursting through the grey area of the planet… It was getting closer and closer…

That wasn't a red dot…

Louie began yelling loudly.

"Calm down Louie!" shouted Olimar, "I told you that I don't like your random yelling!"

Louie continued to scream.

"Ugh, look at the stars…" Olimar stated, and he flipped the ship around, so Louie could stare at the stars up ahead.

Louie proceeded to calm down, when suddenly, Olimar and Pelly squealed.

The ship almost dodged the laser… Almost.

Unfortunately, it scraped the sides. Fortunately, it cut the ropes binding Louie. Unfortunately, the ship was now falling. Fortunately, Louie could scratch freely now.

Unfortunately, the group was about to die…

 **?**

 _1 hour to Sunset_

Pelly groaned, and slowly got up. How was she not dead? The G-force of entering PNF-404's atmosphere should've killed her…

It took a moment for Pelly to adjust to her surroundings. She looked around. She was currently kneeling on some sand. She had a small circle, with various oddities around her.

She attempted to move her legs… It didn't work. She attempted to stand up… It didn't work. Perhaps she did get damaged by the impact after all…

"The President said that whenever in danger, I should check the employee safety guide."

She created a holographic screen by swiping her left hand, then selected the employee safety guide.

"Let's see. Check your Extra-New Hoco-pad."

She slowly moved the employee safety guide to the trash bin, and watched as the screen slowly deleted all of its contents.

"There… Now then, I better get my EN-H out…"

Out of a small pack, Pelly pulled out two halves of a game controller, and a screen. The left half was yellow, and the right half was purple.

"Proper protocol states that I should put the screen in-between for the best usage… Whatever that means..."

Pelly placed the screen in between the two halves of the game controller. She then started the device. Only two buttons were available so far. Data Filing, and Safety Procedures.

She selected Safety Procedures. The EN-H scanned her.

"Ms. No-Last-Name-Given, you appear to be in terrible shape. Would you like me to give you some help?"

"Please…" groaned Pelly.

"Unfortunately, I am a machine, and cannot physically help you. However, I can give you a simulation to prepare you for the real deal… What styles would you like?

"Perhaps Rock and Roll?"

"Please don't…" begged Pelly.

"Fine… How about Rap?"

"No music please," asked Pelly.

"You're no fun. How about '90's sitcom style?"

Pelly raised an eyebrow.

"Oh come on… I could've sworn that was good. Fine, how about video games?"

Pelly considered this, "I suppose that will work…"

"Very well…" said the EN-H, "Now then. Your legs appear to be numb. Moving them will wake them up again!"

"How do I do that?" asked Pelly.

"Processing… Okay, you seen that control-stick on my left? Now then, if this were a game, then moving that around would help you move around. So, just imagine you are being controlled by a control-stick thing on the left side of someone's game controller. Seeing as your incapacitated, try to pretend that someone is rapidly shaking the control-stick to get you up."

Pelly closed her eyes, then rapidly got up. She began moving around.

"Good job!" said the EN-H, "Wait a minute! Look at those things in the ground!"

Pelly looked forward. A few golden Pikpik carrots were buried in the sand.

"Listen Pelly, you need to get those out!"

"I've never been really good at pulling!" said Pelly, "Those carrots look really deep!"

"Hmm… How about this! You see on the right of me, I have this A button thing? How about you pretend that somebody pushed that button, allowing you to suddenly get the strength to pull those carrots out?"

"Umm… that sounds really odd, but OK…"

Pelly began to pull out the golden Pikpik carrots, until she had a total of five.

"Good job! Wait a minute… Ugh, these are rotten Pikpik carrots!"

Pelly inspected them. They were totting away, leaving some disgusting mold left over.

"Okay then. Now then, pretend to press A, and throw those carrots away!"

Pelly threw four golden Pikpik carrots, where they smashed against the ground. She was about to throw the fifth one, when her EN-H interrupted her.

"STOP!" he shouted, "THAT'S ACTUALLY A GOOD ONE!"

Pelly looked at the carrot, which was actually still shining.

"How about we work on your throwing arm?" asked the EN-H, "Try to toss it at me!"

"I don't know, I'm not too good at throwing…"

"Okay then, just imagine like you're about to throw the carrot. When the person holds A, then you can see where you're aiming!"

Pelly carefully aimed, and threw the carrot, which smacked the NE-H.

"Good job, but that really hurt…"

"Now then, let's see if your leg is working fine now… How about doing some rolls?"

"Rolls?" asked Pelly.

"You don't know how to roll?"

"I didn't say that," said Pelly, "Do you think I'm ignorant?"

"Umm… no, Ms. No-Last-Name-Given…"

"Good…"

"It's just important to see if your legs are working right… That's why I want you to do rolls…"

Pelly sighed, "Fine…"

"Okay then. Imagine that on the left side of the controller, there are four buttons in a plus-shaped pattern… Imagine that by pressing one, you move in the direction with that corresponding button… Try to imagine hitting an up button, and rolling forward."

Pelly rolled forward.

"…I don't think you imagined it…"

"Let's just go on," complained Pelly.

"OK. Now then, you can also roll to the sides, or backflip, by pretending to press the corresponding buttons."

"Wait…" Pelly said, "The gravity on this planet is increased to us. How would I backflip?"

"Processing…" the EN-H stayed silent for a moment, "Umm, I guess you'll just roll backwards then… Now then, that should complete the basics…"

"That was really long," said Pelly, "To just learn how to move my legs again.

"…Sorry…" Pelly looked at the EN-H, now showing a map. A blue dot was beeping a few areas away from her, past a narrow strip of land.

"OH! That must be the objective! Hmm… I could've sworn it would be yellow though…"

Pelly looks around, and found the little strip of land. She walked through the path, admiring the odd walls that closed her in, and entered another circular area. Two red boots were sticking out of the ground, wiggling wildly.

"Oh! I've got you Olimar!"

She pulled on his boots a few times, and got him out of the ground.

He fell down, and Pelly rushed to his side, "You OK?"

Louie turned to face her, a maggot in his mouth, still wiggling. Red juice was dribbling down his chin.

"Oh…" said Pelly, her face falling, "It's you…"

Louie slurped up the maggot, and began to chew it. Pelly, noticing this, began to gag.

"Please… just… stop…"

Louie swallowed his meal, and got up.

"Listen, do you know where Olimar or the ship is? We apparently crashed down on PNF-404… again…"

Louie stared at her, then pointed at a wall, completely covered by plant life.

"Oh… Well, we can just go through it, right?"

Pelly attempted to wade through it, when her suit started taking serious damage. Louie grabbed her arm and pulled her out, and began to remove the thorns imbedded in her spacesuit.

"Thanks," she said, "I wish there was some way to clear that…"

She slowly looked around the area, attempting to search for some sharp object, when she heard some rustling. She noticed Louie messing with some leaves on a vine.

"Louie, this isn't the time to eat…"

Louie ignored her. He was straightening leaves.

"Ugh, I guess I'll do this myself…"

She continued to search the area. She saw a giant shovel, but nobody would be able to use that thing… There were nothing in the oddly shaped craters, although she could've sworn that something massive would make those four dots and large center.

She heard Louie grunt.

"Yes?" she asked annoyed. She turned to see that Louie was gone. She heard some creaking above her, and saw that Louie was jumping up and down on a small log, attached by a thin vine. He pointed at the small vine he was messing with earlier, where all of the leaves had formed a small ladder.

"Oh!" Pelly said. She climbed up the ladder to find a vine moving sideways. Holding on tightly, she slowly made her way onto the log. She and Louie began jumping, the vine desperately trying to hold onto the log. But it was no use. It fell down, and rolled through the blockade of thorns, leaving a decently sized gap to cross through.

She looked at Louie, who was facing away from her.

"Hey, I'm sorry for yelling at you. I didn't know…"

Louie turned to face her, a maggot squirming in his mouth.

"…How did you even get that in the helmet?"

Louie simply stared at her.

"Let's just go…" said Pelly.

They carefully walked through the gap in the thorns, and exited into another small clearing. There, Olimar was waiting, with some red shards.

"Thank goodness you're safe!" he cried, and ran up to them.

"Food?" Louie asked, pointing at the red shards.

Olimar sighed, and picked up one. It was swirling red.

"I'm afraid not. When I crashed here, I found this. I'm afraid I killed so many Pikmin…"

"Wait," Pelly said, "That was once an Onion?"

Olimar picked up a propeller, "It was… But now, it's broken… I'm afraid when I crashed into it… it…"

Louie picked up a piece and inspected it, "Burnt…"

"Burnt?" asked Olimar. He walked over and looked at the piece. Indeed, it was slightly touched by flame.

"I must have burned up when entering the atmosphere. My suit must've saved me…"

"Wait," said Pelly. She picked up the shard Olimar was holding, "This wasn't your doing. Look!"

The piece appeared to have a narrow hole straight through it, cracks expanding around it.

"Oh… How did I not see that? But what did this?"

"I don't know," answered Pelly, "But we need to find out who…"

Pelly inspected the pieces, and Louie walked off to do… something…

Olimar simply held the shard of the Onion in his hand, with no idea of what to do…

 **PaintBrushJr: Hey guys! I hope you will enjoy this Pikmin story. Ooh… mystery though… Who could've done that to the Onion, besides the totally obvious villain! And what will happen to Lili, Garren, and Zelia? Find out… one day…**


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